It was a bend, but not break performance by Gallatin County Saturday at the SIU Shootout.

Despite 28 turnovers and losing the lead late in the game, the Hawks hung on for a 50-49 win over Goreville.

The two 1A powers are considered the best in southern Illinois and will likely meet up again in the post season, but on this particular afternoon, Gallatin County head coach Robert Patton was just content with the win.

"We knew we had to handle the pressure and I thought we did," Patton said. "It didn't kill us, but it hurt us. (Goreville) hurt us in spurts and again, we knew they would. I didn't make a couple of adjustments that I should have made, but overall a great game."

Gallatin County literally watched an 11-point lead evaporate before their eyes and Goreville’s full court press continually caused problems for the Hawks.

Gallatin County (6-1) led the entire contest until JT Russell drove the lane for an easy layup with 5:53 to play, knotting the score at 39-all.

Building on the strength and size of Andrew Drone, who finished with a game-high 29 points, finished off the game with Gallatin County’s nine of the Hawks’ final 11 points.

Drone’s last bucket came with 47 seconds left to play, setting up Goreville for a chance to win the game.

Leading 50-49, Goreville head coach Todd Tripp called a time out to set up a play, but the Blackcats had a couple of opportunities at looks as time expired.

Patton, knowing that the two clubs could meet later in the post season, didn't feel like his Hawks set or made any kind of statement with the win.

"Goreville is a great ballclub and they're very well coached. I can't give them enough accolades. It was a big win for us, don't get me wrong. We had a chance to play at the arena, our kids were excited, chance for some exposure. We don't get a lot of that. It was a big win for us."

Daine Hish finished with seven points for Gallatin County, while Patrick Lowe chipped in with six. Anthony Storto flipped in five points, while Josh Belford tacked on three.

On the plus side, Gallatin County out rebounded Goreville 24-16 with Drone finishing with eight, including six on the defensive end.

One of Goreville’s pitfalls Saturday was there inability to knock down shots, despite heating up late in the game.

The Blackcats finished shooting 41.5 precent from the field on 17-of-41 shooting, but were just 2-of-9 from 3-point range, shooting 22.2 percent.

Gallatin County shot 67.7 precent in the game, going 21-for-31 and were 2-of-4 from beyond the arc for a clip of 50 percent.

Page 2 of 3 - Gallatin County opened with a 15-9 lead and led 25-19 at halftime. Goreville was able to outscore the Hawks 15-14 in the third quarter, but still trailed 39-34.